OUR VIEW: Presenting Sam Davis' story needs full effort

If you grew up in Smyrna, are a Civil War history buff or went on field trips to the Sam Davis Home as a kid, you probably know the answer.

But for the many Rutherford Countians who weren't raised here, the answer probably doesn't come as easily.

As the historic site in Smyrna is prepping for events that will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Confederate scout's death, people around here need to know the story of Sam Davis. He was captured by Union soldiers in the 1860s and eventually hanged at age 21 for refusing to divulge the name of a spy to save his own life.

He is famously quoted as saying, "If I had a thousand lives to live, I would give them all rather than betray a friend."

Impressive and interesting as Davis' story is, financial support for the site has waned in the past decade. During 2005 and 2006, the town of Smyrna allocated $47,500 each year to the Sam Davis Home. This year, the amount dropped to $14,000. That's a big hit for a site that needs about $200,000 to fund operations.

Times have been tough all over, and the cuts to the Sam Davis Home allocation were among a long list of cuts the town has made in recent years.

It was disheartening to see the leadership at the Sam Davis Home respond to the cuts by shutting down during the entire month of January and more recently discontinuing tours on Sundays.

While the Sam Davis Home attracts massive crowds of students on field trips and other groups to its two big annual events -Days on the Farm in May and Heritage Days in September - there are entire months in 2014 without any events planned, according to the calendar on the home's website.

The small staff and group of volunteers are dedicated to keeping Davis' memory alive and teaching Civil War-era history. But they need buy-in from the community, which they can earn by telling more people Davis' story. It's tough to do that when tours aren't offered on Sunday, the site is closed during January, and the mission of the home isn't being aggressively touted throughout Middle Tennessee.

The Sam Davis Home can use this anniversary to drum up more support. And you can help.